Goodbye Lakers. It’s been nice while it lasted, but an unfinished revolution is not, by definition, a revolution. The team that started the season 2-10 has exceeded expectations, He has been the best in the Western Conference after the All Star and has surpassed two rounds of playoffs in an unexpected and deserved way. Nothing else could be done: the Nuggets have been clearly and completely better, with a historic, generational player, who is in his prime like Nikola Jokic and a Jamal Murray with truly incredible flashes of talent. The Colorado team thus reaches its first Finals, something it had never achieved, and postulates itself as one of the dominators of the recent future. Meanwhile, the Lakers head to the thinking corner after a very good season despite everything and will wait and see how things unfold. to decide if one last attempt at the ring is possible before LeBron James certifies a decline that has already begun and it has been noticed in a resounding and notorious way.
That is where the Lakers will pass, who are obliged to continue the project, an open secret confirmed by the good end of the team’s course. They have no choice: everything will depend, beyond renewals and the possible permanence of the mayor (now we will talk about this), on LeBron’s age (and his possible retirement?) And the health of Anthony Davis. If they manage to extend the good work of their two stars as long as possible, everything is possible in the short term. Because looking to the future in a few years is meaningless when you have the King, his 38 years, his 20 seasons in the NBA and his infinity of records. There you have to give everything: in a setting that allows you, at least, to compete. Get closer to the title in an uncompetitive Western Conference and a competition without the clearly dominant team that has always existed in a traditional way.
The administration’s accounts
LeBron and Davis are the only ones who have a long-term contract, specifically until 2025. The first, after renewing at the beginning of this course, has a player option in 2024 that we will see if he will exercise (his son Bronny will land in the NBA, if all goes well, next year) and, if he does not get out of it, more than 97 million receivable, including the more than 44 that he will receive this season. The second has the same option after the 190 million in 5 years signed in 2020 and will take, if he exercises it, more than 78 million. They are the only players who will surely continue next year, but they are 38 and 30 years old, some health problems that are no longer a determining factor. Also, of course, very specific pieces around to be able to fight for the ring: LeBron is not who he was, he has a foot injury that will still make him undergo surgery this summer and he looks fatigued in this part of the course, unintentionally penetrating and abusing a triple that doesn’t score. Davis is more powerful playing center, but his reputation for glass man (36, 40 and 56 games played in the seasons after the 2020 ring) it is too big to ignore. I mean, yes, they are there. But you have to count on them just enough.
That’s where the rest come in. The first topic will be to resolve the situation of Austin Reaves: Contract ends and he is a restricted free agent. He has been with the team for two years, so the Lakers have the early bird rigths. With that, they can directly offer him about 51 million in four seasons. They are limited to that number, although the rest of the franchises are not, and they could give you up to 99 million in the same years. Of course, the Lakers could match that offer thanks to the Gilbert Arenas Provision, a rule created when the Wizards signed Arenas for 65 million in six courses (2003) without giving the Warriors the opportunity to renew him. The NBA then changed the rules to allow entities to match that offer in case their outgoing player receives it and thus be able to keep him. Something that, with the memory of Alex Caruso’s departure still fresh, the Lakers will probably do. After all, we are talking about a good player who handles the ball well, defends, passes and scores; and that he has averaged 13 points per game this season and 17 in the playoffs, with almost 5 rebounds and 5 assists per night. It would be crazy and a demonstration of not learning from mistakes not to retain the young promise. Tell the Mavericks, who already did the same with Jalen Brunson last summer… and they are as they are.
The other case that the Lakers will have to review will be that of Rui Hachimura: it has been fantastic news, he has been very good in his role and has managed to contribute on both sides of the track. He’s an unrestricted free agent and they’ll be able to offer him what they can, but prioritizing Reaves’ re-signing and hoping no other teams bet on him. More free agents such as Dennis Schröder or Lonnie Walker IV are also pending. The departure of Malik Beasley is expected (a team option of more than 16 million that the Angelenos can save) and we will see what happens with Troy Brown or Wenyen Gabriel, with less incidence and playing time in the playoffs. The one who will continue, almost certainly, will be Jarred Vanderbilt: less than 5 million pending next year, a very desirable figure for a player who has given a lot, especially in defense.
The Kyrie option and the future
Let’s see what happens now. Rob Pelinka has proven to be an intelligent and patient man and will wait for the best move to bolster an already competitive team., although it has been since the transfer of Russell Westbrook. Darvin Ham has had very good runs and his management of the games in the series against the Warriors has been simply brilliant. But in all this, a rumor emerges that is getting stronger and stronger: the possible signing of Kyrie Irving. A free agent this summer, no one knows if the Mavericks will bet on him and his reputation is tarnished by his off-season controversies, but also by the poor level he has been playing on the track steadily since he left the Cavaliers… from LeBron James, with whom it seems that he wants to get together again after leaving Ohio to escape his long shadow. D’Angelo Russell can leave (the criticism of him is getting bigger) and that would leave a vacancy at point guard… but with a decision, that of signing Kyrie, which would be very controversial no matter how you look at it. A man who can turn a franchise upside down. A toxic presence. A crashed star.
That’s how things are in the Lakers. Regardless of what happens with LeBron and doubts about him, Davis will continue, and they will try to retain Reaves at all costs (failing to do so could be catastrophic) and do what they can with Hachimura (whose departure could lead to the signing of Kyrie). From there, a lot of role players, minimal contracts, maintaining the coaching staff (Phil Handy, in Ham’s shadow, essential) and waiting for something to move in the summer, which may be due to the movement that is going to take place. from this summer to February, all the way to the new agreement, which will be gradually applied until everything is in place, it is expected, for 2024-25. Until then, the Lakers will have to rest and think about a future full of conditions and edges. With wickers, but uncertain. With things to do, but not so many. They have had a great season. But what counts here is winning. And that they have not achieved, clear.
